Tener que... vs. Deber vs. Hay que...

What are the differences between the three phrases in the title (and the same for all person endings, if "Tengo que..." is more colloquial than "Tenemos que..." or whatever)? Also, are there any other phrases that mean "I must/have to" etc. that I have not mentioned, and if so, where would they fit in?

What are the differences between the three phrases in the title (and the same for all person endings, if "Tengo que..." is more colloquial than "Tenemos que..." or whatever)? Also, are there any other phrases that mean "I must/have to" etc. that I have not mentioned, and if so, where would they fit in?

¡Muchas gracias!

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Tengo que is more colloquial than tenemos que; that's because of the use of the plural (it has a name, plural de cortesía ¿?¿?); in papers or academic works, it is usual to use sentences such as "a continuación, analizaremos el contexto..." although the paper is just written by one person.

Tienes que comer. You must eat. (Always with que.)
Debes comer. You must eat. (Same thing, but not followed by any prepositions.) (Deber de means something else.)
Hay que comer. One should eat. (Always with que.)

In fact the three forms relate to the same, the only difference lies in the degree of command and/or urgency they imply. Let's see:

- 'Hay que' is a mere statement of something that should be done, but the one speaking clearly doesn't want to do it by himself, and is voicing the need to see if some other takes the initiative to do it.
- 'Tener que' is something that has to be done but, depending on need, it could be done today, tomorrow or next week (if you're out of eggs and you want an omelette for dinner, you'll end up going today)
- 'Deber' implies something that IMPERATIVELY HAS to be done (usually quick), or something bad will happen (if today is the tax return deadline and you're halfway through calculating it, you're in deep trouble).

In fact the three forms relate to the same, the only difference lies in the degree of command and/or urgency they imply. Let's see:

- 'Hay que' is a mere statement of something that should be done, but the one speaking clearly doesn't want to do it by himself, and is voicing the need to see if some other takes the initiative to do it.
- 'Tener que' is something that has to be done but, depending on need, it could be done today, tomorrow or next week (if you're out of eggs and you want an omelette for dinner, you'll end up going today)
- 'Deber' implies something that IMPERATIVELY HAS to be done (usually quick), or something bad will happen (if today is the tax return deadline and you're halfway through calculating it, you're in deep trouble).

Hope this helps.

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There seem to be some kind of confusion with tener que and deber. I've also read that it's the other way round, that with tener que, it means that you have to do something that way you like it or not because there are external factors compelling you to do that thing (ie, you would say tengo que entrar a trabajar a las 9 because if you don't, you would get fired), while with deber there is no requirement that makes the action compulsory for you, but you feel like it's your moral responsability, even though there will not be any harmful consequences if you do not do what you say.

I'm afraid that's not quite correct. It's true that hay que is impersonal, but depending on the context it can also be used with the same meaning as tener que. For instance, if you have forgotten you have to pay your car installment, and your wife reminds you of this, ("No olvides que aún adeudamos la mensualidad") , you can use either:"Rayos, de veras que tengo que pagar/ hay que pagarle la cuota" It's clear from the context that the someone that has to pay the instalment is myself.